Restless
by im-aredhel
Summary: While investigating her father's murder, Mimi seeks the help of a man that can aid her in finding answers that have haunted her for almost two years. But will they find more than they bargained for? MIMATO! CH1 edited/reposted and CH2 up!
1. Restless

(**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon or any of its characters. I only own the plot to this story.)

[**A/N:** Greetings! This is my first (published) fanfic and it is a MIMATO. It will have hints of taiora, kenyako, and maybe even a little daikari (I just thought I'd give poor Daisuke a break and let him be with Hikari). All in good time, though. MIMATO is my all time favorite anime couple and I do not care who disagrees! Hehe...I hope you guys like this story. Please review, and I appreciate constructive criticism. Thanks!]

The character's ages are as follows:

Jyou: 30  
Yamato, Taichi, and Sora: 27  
Mimi and Koushiro: 26  
Takeru, Daisuke, Hikari, Ken, and Miyako: 24  
Iori: 21

**Restless**

**I. Restless**

_A young Mimi was smiling. She could not help but smile every time she and her daddy were together. _

_She was with her father in his study while he was taking a short break from work to pay attention to his little princess. She sat on top of his desk, facing him, putting bows and ribbons on his hair while at the same time telling him stories of things that had happened at school that day._

"…_and after that mean boy broke all of my crayons, Sora went ballistic on him!" Mimi raised her hands up in the air as to demonstrate to her daddy just how ballistic Sora had gone. "…he had paste all over his hair and face…he sure won't mess with her again." _

_Mimi's father laughed and said, "Well it seems that little Sora is no push-over."_

"_Oh, daddy she really isn't! She is the one that that keeps all the meanies away from me."_

_Mr. Tachikawa put his hands on his daughter's tiny face and gave her an Eskimo kiss. "Well, my little princess, I am very glad that you have such a good little friend to be there for you."_

_Mimi then stood up on the desk and said, "Okay, daddy. You can look now. You're all finished." She handed her father her pink, furry mirror with a look of anticipation on her face. "Do you like it, daddy?"_

_Mr. Tachikawa's head was covered with pink bows, ribbons, and colorful flower clips. He had on a fuzzy, lavender scarf and a shiny pink bead necklace. He looked absolutely ridiculous and he knew it. But since there was no mother in the picture, somebody had to be there for Mimi's tea parties and all her little dress-up and make-over parties. He gave her a big smile and said, "Sweetheart, I have never looked better! You are a natural at making me look handsome! Who knows, looking this good may even get you a mommy."_

_Mimi's face lit up and she threw herself in her daddy's arms. "I love you so much, daddy."_

_He gave his little princess another Eskimo kiss and said, "I love you more."_

Mimi Tachikawa woke up suddenly alone in her apartment in New York City. She had that dream again. She sat up in her bed and put her knees up to her chest. She felt like her heart was breaking all over again. Her eyes filled with tears as she thought of her dream; her memories with her father. It had been almost two years since her father's death—no, since her father's murder, but it still hurt as much as it did the day she found out. She missed him so very much. Just the thought of him made her heart ache with fresh grief.

She got out of bed and went to her bathroom. She turned the sink knob and splashed cold water on her face. She did not want to think about this right now but she could not help it. No matter how hard she tried, she could not keep herself from thinking about the past.

She never allowed herself look back. She made sure that she never regrets her decisions, and she never felt that she had made a wrong choice: until now. Mimi knew that her decision had been the right one. It had to be. It was too big a decision for her to be wrong. She just did not know why she was still second-guessing it; why she could not get it out of her mind.

Right after her father's murder she had felt so much anger. She wanted to find the person responsible for having done that to her father. She wanted justice. All Mimi wanted was to see the man that killed her father rot in prison for the rest of his life. A year and a half ago she felt that she finally had that. The man was caught and sent to prison. Case closed.

So why did she feel like this wasn't over? Why did she still have so many questions in her head? To this day, Mimi had not been able to have a full night of sleep without waking up thinking of her father. It made no sense to her. There was no motive for the murder, so why bother? And why had her father called her two nights before his death? Why did it sound like he was saying goodbye?

_Riiing! The phone rang. Riiing!_

_Mimi ran from her kitchen to answer the phone. Riiing!_

"_I'm coming, I'm coming," she said. "Hello?"_

"_Hi there Princess."_

"_Daddy! How wonderful to hear from you!" she said. "How are you?"_

"_Oh sweetie, I really needed to hear your voice," said Mr. Tachikawa. He sounded strange._

"_Daddy, what's wrong? Are you alright?"Mimi asked._

"_N-nothing is wrong, Princess. I just miss you, is all."_

"_I miss you, too. Though," Mimi looked at the time, "this is a strange time to call, daddy. It must be late over there in Japan. What it is, like 2:30am?"_

"_I know it is. I just wanted to tell you how much I love you."Mr. Tachikawa's voice was slightly quivering. Mimi was now getting a little worried._

"_Daddy, what's going on? Are you in trouble?"_

"_Not at all, sweetie. Like I said I just miss you very much." His voice sounded better. "I've just been up all night working on something. I'm just tired. I only wanted to hear your voice before I went to bed."_

"_Well get some rest. I don't want you to get sick," said Mimi._

"_Alright then. I will. Goodnight sweetie."_

"_Goodnight to you, daddy. Love you."She was about to hang up the phone._

"_Mimi--!" she heard before she could hang up._

"_Yeah?"_

"_I love you so much, Princess," she heard her father say._

"_I love you more." She hung up the phone._

_That night Mimi could not get that phone call out of her mind. Her father sounded so strange. He seemed worried, almost scared. She had to see him. She just wanted to make sure that he was okay. She booked a flight to Japan and left the next morning._

_Mimi arrived in Japan sometime in the evening. Her best friend Sora had picked her up from the airport. She wanted to see her father as soon as possible. Something just didn't feel right._

_Sora took Mimi to her father's lab at work, but he was not there. That seemed a bit strange, though not really because Mr. Tachikawa frequently worked from home in his personal lab. He was a biochemist; a Pharmacologists to be more precise. He dedicated most of his life in trying to find cures for the incurables._

"_I'm sorry Sora. Would you mind driving me to his house. He wasn't at work."_

"_It's okay. I don't mind at all," said Sora with a smile on her face. She looked at Mimi. "And don't worry so much. I'm sure he's fine."_

"_Thanks Sora." Mimi gave her a small smile._

_It had gotten dark by the time they had arrived to Mr. Tachikawa's house. "I'll be right back," Mimi told Sora._

"_Take your time, Mimi," Sora replied._

_Mimi walked over to the front door. She knocked. No one answered. She knocked again._

"_Daddy are you home? It's me, Mimi." She grabbed the door knob and turned it. It was unlocked. Strange. She opened the door and walked in. "Daddy? You home?"_

_Silence._

'_He must be working in the basement,' she thought. She headed downstairs to the basement where her father kept his lab. She reached the door. It was slightly ajar and the light was on inside._

"_Daddy, it's Mimi. I came to visit you." Again, no answer. Mimi opened the door and walked inside._

_What she saw next made her heart sink to the darkest pits of her stomach. Her knees gave out and she collapsed to the ground. She could not believe what she was looking at._

_Her father's dead body was laid out on a table in front of her. He was covered in his own blood and it looked as if he had been dissected. She could tell that some of his organs were missing._

_And the look on his face._

_The expression that was frozen on his face was one of pain, but not fear. His eyes were open and she could just see what he must've seen. Oh, those eyes…_

'_I am sorry' was written on a small piece of paper right next to the body._

_Oh, those eyes…_

_She couldn't take it anymore. She screamed._

Oh man, she hated remembering. Mimi wished she could just forget about the past. It hurt too much to remember. Losing her father was the worst imaginable thing that could have happened to her. It was the most unexpected and the most heart-breaking experience in her life. He was all that she had had in the world and now he was gone. Again, her eyes filled with tears.

Whenever she thought of her father's murder, her thoughts always came back to one thing: the note. _I am sorry_ it said. That just didn't make sense to her. Why would anyone write that after having killed someone? How dare they after what they just did? Not knowing the answer to those questions has kept her up every night since her father's death. She missed him so much. She felt that there was more to the murder than she knew, and it killed her not knowing what it was.

Mimi was now outside on her balcony. It was late in the evening. She could not sleep. The night breeze always seemed to relax her, as it did her father. She reached into her front pocket and pulled out a cigarette. She placed the stick in her mouth and reached inside her coat pocket again to pull out a lighter. She never smoked before. In fact she hated it just as much as her father had, but now it seemed to be the only thing that could calm her nerves at times like these. Whenever she would try to smoke in front of her father he would always blow out the light to keep her from smoking. He always told her that stuff was bad for her. She knew he was right and she agreed with him but she couldn't help it.

With a flick of her wrist, the lighter lit up. As soon as she put the small flame against the cigarette, it turned off. She tried again. The light turned off. After four or five attempts, she gave up and threw the cigarette away.

"Cheap lighter," she mumbled.

She went back inside and got a glass of water. She sat on her dining table in the dark and started to think about him. Not her father this time, but the killer. She knew of no connection between her father and the killer. She managed to find out that he was also Japanese. He had been some kind of a doctor or scientist in Rhode Island; and he even had a family. His wife was fairly beautiful and he had three kids: two boys and a girl. His name was Jou Kido. His life seemed pretty pleasant and content, so what motive did he have to kill her father? That is yet another question that remained unanswered to her. He even denied in trial that he had murdered him when all the evidence unmistakably pointed to him. They had found her father's blood in his car and smeared on some of his clothes that they found hidden down in his basement. He said that someone else had done it when it was clearly him. He never stopped denying it.

Mimi put her hands to her face. "I can't live like this," she told herself. Mimi got up and walked over to her phone. She picked it up and dialed a number.

Riiing! Riiing!

"Hello?" someone answered.

"Hello, Sora?" Mimi said.

"Mimi?" replied Sora.

"Yeah, it's me. How are you?"

"I'm great! What a surprise to hear from you. What's up?"

"Well," Mimi paused, "Sora, I'm coming home."

*******

(**A/N:** Well, I hope you like it so far. I hope it wasn't boring for you guys to read. This is a very important chapter. Yamato, among other characters, will make his first appearance in the next chapter. Please review. THANK YOU!)


	2. At the Airport

(**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon or any of its characters. I only own the plot to this story.)

[**A/N:** Hi everyone!! I am SSOOOOOO sorry for the ridiculously long gap between chapters!! I will not make excuses, I simply started getting wrapped up in other things and I kept putting it off. I typed the first half of this chapter little by little whenever I would get a chance but I was taking too long so I decided to just sit down one night and type. I got the second half (it was actually more than half) of this chapter done overnight (I stayed up from 10pm through 8am the next morning typing) and I gotta tell you I felt great after I finished the chapter :). Anywho, I really hope you like this chapter!!]

**Restless**

**II. At the Airport**

Mimi's plane arrived in Odaiba on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. It was a warm, breezy day and the clouds in the sky looked good enough to eat. She sat on her seat looking out the tiny window and watched as the plane slowed down on the pavement.

As soon as her plane came to a complete stop she pulled out her cell phone and dialed Sora's number. The phone rang and she waited for her to pick up.

She didn't answer. Mimi figured she must not have heard her phone ring over the noise of the airport so she proceeded to go get her luggage. She got all her belongings and went on to see if Sora was waiting for her.

She wasn't there. Mimi pulled out her cell phone and called Sora again. Once again she did not answer.

'Shoot, where is she? I hope she's alright,' Mimi thought.

She was about to dial again when her phone rang. It was Sora.

"Hello, Sora?" she answered.

"Mimi, shit! I'm so sorry, I'm running late," said Sora. "I'm almost there. It'll just be a few more minutes. I'm sorry to keep you waiting."

"It's okay, Sora. Don't worry about it. I'm actually starving. The meal they gave us in the plane was a joke. How about you meet me in the restaurant by the main entrance? I'll order for you while you get here," Mimi suggested.

"That's perfect! I didn't get a chance to catch breakfast so I'm hungry, too," said Sora. "Order anything you want for me. I'll pay you back as soon as I get there."

"Don't be silly. It's my treat. Consider it a thank you for picking me up."

"Well I'm not one to argue against a free meal. Thanks! I'll be no more than fifteen minutes."

"Alrighty, Sora. I'll see you in a bit."

"Bye, Mimi."

"Bye."

Mimi hung up the phone and headed over to the restaurant. She ordered their meals and quickly found a table to settle her belongings in. She took a seat and waited for both the food and Sora to arrive.

* * *

Yamato Ishida waited impatiently for his younger brother to arrive to the terminal. It had been almost a year and a half since he had last seen his brother, Takeru.

He hadn't realized how much he would miss his little brother. Even though he hadn't liked the idea of him backpacking through Europe at first, he had to admit that he was slightly proud of him. Despite everyone being angry at him for leaving, he took the initiative to just leave everything behind and pursue his dream.

It had been Takeru's dream to travel the world since he graduated high school. Though he talked about it often, no one thought that he would actually just pack up and leave. Hikari especially wasn't too pleased when she found out TK was leaving. She so very much wanted to be with him and just be a couple. It had taken them many years since their childhood to finally get to that point in their relationship and the last thing she wanted was for him to leave her for a year and a half. She told him she would not wait for him, but he still left. She was heartbroken. But that's all in the past now.

Yamato looked at his watch. 'He's twenty-five minutes late,' he thought. 'Forget this. I'm going to walk around…he's got my number.'

With that final thought, Yamato left the gate and decided to take a stroll around the airport terminals.

He walked around and simply watched the people that passed him by. Once in a while he would stop to observe as people reunited with loved ones. He would watch as some walked out slowly, on the lookout for any sign of familiarity in the crowd, with anticipation in their faces, while others simply rushed through the sea of people, trying to get out of the busy airport as soon as humanly possible.

Everybody seemed to have someone waiting for them on the other side of the gate. He continued to observe the people until a little girl caught his attention. She looked to be about six or seven and she was by herself. He watched her as she looked eagerly towards the crowd of expectant people, searching for a familiar face. Her face looked sad and scared but when she looked in Yamato's direction, her eyes lit up with joy.

'Is she looking at me?' thought Matt.

The little girl, holding a stuffed animal and carrying a pink backpack started walking towards Matt. She picked up speed and extended her arms towards him with a big smile on her face.

'Shit. What do I do? I don't know this kid…' thought Matt.

Reluctantly, he knelt on one knee and extended his arms. As soon as the little girl was two yards away, she moved a little to the right, ran right passed Matt, and jumped into the arms of the woman standing next to him right behind his shoulder.

Yamato felt so foolish. He simply pretended to tie his shoe laces and proceeded to walk away as fast as possible.

He walked around the airport for about another twenty minutes when he finally decided to find something to eat. He was starving and Takeru was really late now. Thinking about what he was going to do to his little brother when he saw him, he headed over to the restaurant by the entrance that he had passed by a few minutes ago.

* * *

Yamato headed to the counter to place his order to go. He paid the nice lady at the register and went on to find a table while his food was being prepared. It took him some time to find an empty table. He waited for a group of friends to clear out to finally sit down. He hadn't realized he'd been walking around for so long, and the fact that he hadn't eaten all day added to his weariness.

He sat contemplating about what it was that could be keeping his little brother for so long, when something caught his eye. Sitting alone a few tables across from him was the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on in his entire existence.

'Wow…' Yamato thought. The woman was reading a book and apparently waiting for her food to arrive as well. Though she was looking down most of the time, he managed to get a glimpse of her eyes. They were a lovely combination of whisky and honey. Her eyelashes were long and thick and (he could tell) that even though she wore no makeup, they dramatically stood out. She appeared to have the creamiest, softest skin he'd ever laid eyes on and he felt the sudden urge to run his fingers along her slightly rosy cheeks. Her hair cascaded in beautiful waves of chocolate with hints of amber all the way down her back. He dared not look but he could not resist himself; she had plump, round breasts that filled him with temptation.

'Man it is getting hot in here,' he thought.

He sat at his table, and though he tried not to, he could not help but stare at her. She was just too beautiful. God how he wanted to go up to her. Not once in his life had he ever had trouble going up to a woman. He was, after all, a handsome man himself. Yamato was tall, about 6'3" to be exact, and he was in great physical shape. He worked out often and jogged almost every morning of the week. He had untidy, spiky blond hair and women always made a big deal about his blue eyes (so he'd been told). He never let himself get cocky, but that would not stop him from being a confident man when it came to his "love" life.

Yamato continued to watch her. She just sat there reading her book. Though she never took her eyes off the book she held, she looked so unfocused. It looked like there was something in the back of her mind that would not let her give her full concentration to the book in her hands. He glanced at her eyes and for a second he saw that they were filled with an immense sadness. She blinked slowly and the gloom in her eyes was gone. Yamato could not help but wonder what could possibly make this vision in front of him so sad. No one as lovely as her should ever have a look in their eyes like the one she just had. It just wasn't right.

He was glad that he was at an angle where she could not see him. The poor girl would have been weirded out by all his staring. 'I need to know her name,' he thought. Yamato was about to consider going up to her when his cell phone rang. 'Damn…'

"Hello?" he answered.

"Matt, hey it's Takeru,"

"TK? Hey! Where the hell are you?" asked Matt.

"I'm so sorry, Matt. My flight was delayed like an hour due to mechanical problems. Did you have to wait a long time?" he asked.

"Well I got impatient, after about fifteen minutes so I decided to take a stroll around the airport. Then I got hungry so I went over to the restaurant located by the main entrance. I just ordered food and I'm waiting for it as we speak." He glanced over at the beautiful woman across from him. "Head on over here and we can grab our food and go. That sound good?"

"That sounds great," said Takeru. "I'm hungry and exhausted. Again I'm really sorry you had to wait. I'll get my luggage and head straight over there."

"Don't worry about it too much, TK. Just hurry over, man. I missed you, little brother," said Matt.

"Alright. I'll see you in a bit. Bye," and with that, Takeru hung up the phone.

Yamato put his cell phone away and picked up where he left off. Since he did not have much time left to sit there and stare at the beautiful woman, he finally made the decision to go up to her. He took a deep breath and looked up at her. What he saw made him curse himself for having waited just a moment too long.

There was a man standing over the beautiful woman. He seemed to be hitting on her. 'Damn it, he beat me to it,' Yamato thought. He watched as the dumb-looking man smiled at her with a stupid look on his face. Yamato felt the sudden urge to beat the shit out of this man. He was pleased to see, however, that the beautiful woman did not appear to be interested at all. She looked rather annoyed at this man's feeble attempts to hit on her. Yamato tried really hard to listen to what they were saying.

"C'mon sweetie, just tell me your name. I really want to get to know you a little better," the man said.

"Well I'm not interested in getting to know _you_ so please just go away," the beautiful woman replied.

'God, even her voice is beautiful,' Yamato thought.

"That's only because you don't know what I can do for you, babe. Once you see you'll never want to let me go," said the man. He moved a little closer to her, took her hand and said, "Come with me and I'll show you."

With that, the woman stood up (and so did Yamato at the same time) and was about to tell the man off when they heard, "Excuse me. Is there a problem here?"

Both the beautiful woman and the man turned their heads to see where the voice had come from. A woman (that Matt could not see because the man was blocking her from his view) had arrived and she sounded very stern.

"I don't believe my friend here is interested so why don't you just get your shit and walk away," said the woman.

The man knew she meant business so he quickly walked away, but not before mumbling "It's your loss, sweetie."

"Yeah, we highly doubt that," both women said.

Yamato stood by his table, when he heard from behind him, "Hey, Matt!" He turned around and there was his little brother, walking up to him with his luggage and a big smile on his face.

"TK! Hey! Come here you!" and with that the two brothers embraced. "Oh man, let me look at you. You look so different. Your hair is shorter. It looks good, man."

"Thanks. Yours is longer. Man, I missed you," and they hugged again. "How are you? What have you been up to since I've been gone?" asked Takeru. "How's Kari?"

Yamato looked at his brother. "I've been good man but we can talk more when we get home. You must be exhausted."

"Mr. Ishida, your order is ready," Yamato heard.

"Well that's me. We better get going."

"Perfect. I really want to get home and catch up," said Takeru.

Yamato picked up Takeru's biggest rucksack and said, "Alright then. Let's go." Yamato gave one last glance at the beautiful woman, now accompanied by her friend, before walking away.

'Damn,' he thought.

* * *

"Yeah, we highly doubt that," both women said.

"Jeez, can you believe that guy? Looks like I got here just in time."

"Oh Sora, I missed you!" said Mimi and she took Sora in a deep embrace. "You always have been my protector."

"And I've missed you, too, but from the look of things it didn't look like you needed my protection this time. I thought you were going to hit him on the face just before I stepped in," said Sora. "I just thought I'd save you the trouble of getting kicked out of the airport for beating up some jack-ass that wasn't even worth your time."

Both girls laughed.

"Well thank you. I appreciate that," said Mimi.

They sat down and their food arrived.

"Oh my goodness!" exclaimed Sora. "This looks yummy. It's funny how much more delicious food appears when one is starving."

"Seriously. I couldn't agree with you more," said Mimi while looking down at her plate. She had ordered herself a cheese steak sandwich, a side of fries, and a lot of ranch dressing. For Sora, she had ordered a personal tray of chicken strips and seasoned curly fries with a side of ranch. They both had a weird obsession with eating just about everything with ranch dressing.

"So," began Sora before stuffing her mouth with a big chicken strip. "Hah vuz yer fwight?"

"Well," said Mimi while taking a huge bite from her sandwich, and then adding a fry smothered in ranch in her mouth. "Ih gwas rong en egghawsteen," she managed to say. She took a sip of lemonade and swallowed the contents in her mouth. "Like I told you earlier, the food they served us in the plane was just not that good, to say the least, and it certainly wasn't enough to fill me up. Maybe I'm just accustomed to the large American servings."

"Yeah," said Sora while watching Mimi eat. "I can tell."

"Hey that's not nice," said Mimi while laughing. "Anyway I want you to tell me what you have been up to. The last time I heard from you you said you were in the process of opening up a flower shop."

"Well," said Sora, "I am no longer in the process of opening up a flower shop. You are looking at the proud owner of the _Seed of Love_ flower shop."

"Wow, Sora that's great! I'm so proud of you. When did you open up the shop?"

"It's going to be three months next week. I have to tell you I was a little scared that a flower shop in the city might not do so good but I am glad to see that I was wrong. Business is great. I might start a little franchise if this keeps up," said Sora while smiling.

"Well I am very happy to hear that. You have to show me the place when you get a chance," said Mimi.

"I will. So tell me," began Sora before taking a sip from her cup. "What's been going on in your love life? Did you leave anyone behind in New York?"

"I wish I could say I had a love life to talk about but I don't. I dated Michael for a little but we decided to just stay friends. He actually came back to Japan almost six months ago. He got a job offering in Tokyo and from what I hear he is doing well."

"Really? I had no idea Michael was back in Japan. He's a really nice guy; you guys would've been great together," said Sora while smiling.

Mimi noticed the big grin on Sora's face and asked, "Does that amuse you?"

"No, not at all. It's just," Sora paused. "I have something pretty big to tell you concerning _my_ love life." Again a big smile appeared on Sora's face.

"Well what is it, Sora? If I'm not mistaken you were dating Taichi last time I checked."

"Yes I was," said Sora.

"Well how's that going?" asked Mimi. "Oh no, did you guys break up?"

"No we did not," replied Sora.

"Well what is it? Spit it out, Sora you know I don't like being kept in suspense," whined Mimi.

Sora put her hand to her face and Mimi could not help but gaze at the giant rock resting on Sora's ring finger.

"You're engaged!"

"Yes I am. Tai proposed to me last week," said a beaming Sora.

"Oh my goodness! I'm so happy for the both of you. It was about time, too. This is great. Have you guys set a date for the wedding?" asked Mimi.

"Not an exact date but it'll be June next year. And of course I want you to be my maid of honor."

"Well," said Mimi, "it would be my honor. Get it?" Both girls laughed.

"Oh!" started Sora. "And speaking of weddings, guess who eloped."

"Eloped? Who? Who? Tell me! I must know!" said Mimi.

"Miyako and Ken!" said Sora.

"Oh my goodness! No they didn't. This is so great! I never would've imagined that those two would elope." Mimi paused. "Man I'm the last one to find out about these things."

Sora looked at her. "Well Mimi we had tried to contact you on many occasions. Mostly the only times we heard from you was when you reached us. After your father passed away we didn't hear as much from you. We sometimes felt that you were avoiding us."

Mimi's eyes turned very glum for a split second. "I was never avoiding you guys. Not intentionally at least. I love you all but I just had my own issues to deal with and I didn't want you guys to worry over nothing."

"But was it really nothing, Mimi?" asked Sora.

Mimi's expression turned serious for a second. "I don't want to discuss this right now. Let's leave that for a later conversation. Right now I just want to catch up."

"Alright, Mimi but we will discuss this."

"Yes we will. Now tell me about the others. What have they been up to?"

"Not too much has changed since you've been gone. Although," Sora smiled again. "Remember I told you that Hikari and Daisuke got together some time after Takeru left her? We all thought that it wouldn't last since we assumed he was only the rebound guy, but they have actually become a very solid couple. They are going on almost a year now."

"Wow," said Mimi. "I always liked Takeru and Kari as a couple but I always felt so bad for poor Daisuke always chasing after her without success. I'm actually very happy that he finally got his opportunity to show her how much he's always loved her."

"Yeah but don't think it was easy for him. Hikari was heart-broken when Takeru left her. Daisuke immediately stepped in to console her but she was not too sure of his intentions. She would not let him talk to her but he kept at it. He always has been persistent when it comes to Hikari. I guess she finally saw that he was sincere when it came to his feelings towards her and she slowly began to accept him. Now they are inseparable."

"Well that's great but does Takeru know?" asked Mimi. "He's been gone for so long but I know that he really did love Kari. If he doesn't know do you think he'll expect Kari to take him back?"

"As far as I know he does not know yet. Hikari never told him and neither have any of us who kept in touch with him since it was not our business to interfere. I don't think Yamato told him either."

"Who's Yamato?" asked Mimi.

"Oh, that's right you have not met him. Yamato is Takeru's older brother. He moved back to Odaiba a few months before Takeru left for his trip. You were still in New York. He's actually a really nice guy. You would really like him, Mimi. He's not bad-looking either," Sora added with a smile.

"Oh, Sora. Please don't play match-maker with me. I am actually doing pretty well on my own. I don't need a man to complicate things for me even more," said Mimi.

"Hey, I was just throwing it out there in case you were interested," said Sora with a sly look in her face.

"Well I'm not," Mimi retorted. "Anyhow, I just realized," Mimi looked at her phone and saw what the date was. "Isn't Takeru supposed to come back today?"

Sora looked at her phone, too. "You're right. He should be back today. In fact his plane probably landed a few hours ago if I remember correctly." Sora smiled. "You picked a good day to come home. Now we can do something for both you and Takeru to celebrate your return home."

"I would normally object to throwing me a party but it would be great to have everyone get together," said Mimi with a smile on her face. "I really missed everyone and I would love to see them all."

"Well your wish will be granted because is already planned. I'm telling you now because I know how much you hate surprises."

"Really? Thank you, Sora!"

"No problem."

"But go on and tell me about the rest of the guys," said Mimi. "How are Koushiro and Iori? Last time I spoke with Koushiro he told me that his company was doing really well. He mentioned that he planned on expanding it. As for Iori, I'm sure he is still working at his grandfather's dojo, right?"

"Well Koushiro did not lie to you at all. He had some massive expansions this year and he is doing _very_ well. If you check the stock market you will find out just how well our little Izzy is doing."

"Izzy?" Mimi asked.

"Yup. Koushiro has a lot of Americans working for him. He dated one of them and she nicknamed him Izzy. She was really nice and Koushiro seemed to really like her so the nickname stuck. They broke up recently, though. I hope they work it out because I think they are a great couple. You would really like the girl for him. She is very smart and very kind."

"What's her name?" asked Mimi.

"It's Lisa. She's very pretty and petite so they look really cute together," Sora said. "Iori is also doing well. His grandfather will be passing down the dojo to him before long. Iori is very pleased. You know how much he loves the place."

"Yes, I do. His grandfather made a great choice in choosing him. There is no one more suitable to take his place."

"I agree," said Sora.

The mood suddenly changed a bit when Mimi quietly looked at Sora for a minute then looked down. Sora noticed this. It looked like she wanted to ask her something but she did not quite know how to put it into words. She looked almost scared to ask.

"Whatever it is Mimi you can ask me," said Sora gently.

Mimi looked surprised. "What do you mean?"

"Don't try to act dumb, Mimi, I know you too well. There is something bothering you or at least something you need to get off your chest. Whatever it is, tell me. It's okay."

"I could never really hide anything well from you, could I?" Mimi looked at Sora and took a breath. "I just wanted to ask—if it's okay with you, of course—if I could stay with you for a while. I don't think I'm quite ready to move into my old house just yet. You know...too many memories."

"Of course, Mimi. Don't worry about," said Sora affectionately.

"Are you sure? I don't want to impose on you and Taichi. If it's too much trouble I could just get a hotel or something."

"Don't be silly, you won't be staying in a hotel. Besides, Tai and I don't live together. He and Hikari still live together and I live on my own. It'll be great having you live with me."

"Really? Oh, Sora thank you so much. This means a lot to me." Mimi got up and gave Sora a hug. "I promise I won't be a bother."

With that, the girls wrapped up their conversation and gathered Mimi's things.

"You ready to go?" Sora asked Mimi.

"Yup. I've got all my belongings. Let's go home."

"Let's." And the girls left the airport.

***

(**A/N:** There you go! I made this chapter longer than the first to try and make up for the loooong wait. It was intended to, of course, show Yamato's first glimpse of Mimi and also to let you guys know what all the other characters are up to with their lives. You'll see some more characters make their first appearance in the next chapter so stay tuned. As for me letting you know when the next chapter will posted--well--we all saw how that turned out hehe. Thanks for reading and please review. )


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